THE LAST DAY of operation for the Santa Monica Post Office at Fifth Street and Arizona Avenue will be June 29, when retail services will be relocated to a facility less than a mile away.

The Work Projects Administration-era Santa Monica Post Office is closing for business Saturday, June 29 after nearly 75 years in operation.
Retail postal service will be relocated from the post office building at 1248 Fifth St. to the carrier annex facility at 1653 Seventh St. beginning at 9 a.m. Monday, July 1, the United States Postal Service has announced.
The Fifth Street post office will be open for a half-day June 29, from 9 a.m. to noon, after which time retail lobby service and P.O. Box mail will not be available the remainder of the weekend to facilitate the move of equipment and mail, Postal Service spokesman Richard Maher said.
Services and retail hours will remain the same at the new location:
Monday – Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
P.O. Box customers will have the same P.O. Box number and ZIP code, as well as the same key since the boxes will be physically moved into the new facility. P.O. Box mail will be available for pick-up June 29 at the Fifth Street retail counter, and customers will need photo identification to collect their mail that day.
The Postal Service approved the relocation of retail services as part of its efforts to consolidate facilities nationwide due to funding struggles.
A number of community members had expressed concerns with the move, saying that the downtown post office is centrally located and the new location would create access issues, and elected officials had also urged the Postal Service to reconsider its decision.
Maher said the federal agency plans to sell the Fifth Street building, which was built in 1937 and qualifies for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. Working with the state Historic Preservation Officer and his staff, the Postal Service will ensure the historic characteristics of the building are maintained through covenants conveyed to the future buyer as an attachment to the deed, Maher said.